Video and multimedia

The Virtual Institute has developed the following two multimedia resources based on a recent expert group meeting prepared by UNCTAD's Division on International Trade in Goods and Services and Commodities (DITC).

The Vi and DITC have also partnered in offering a discussion forum to encourage exchange on the realities of migration and its contribution to development.

The first presentation, given by Prof. Philip Martin, Chair of the University of California's Comparative Immigration and Integration Program, outlines the three levels on which migration impacts development: remittances, recruitment and returns.

While giving an overview of the subject, he points at some of the caveats, stating that the linkage between migration and development is not automatic and explains why they might even be positively correlated. Martin concludes by highlighting fields that have so far been neglected by the international community and recommends some win-win policies.

In the second resource, Richard Newfarmer, the World Bank’s special representative to the United Nations and World Trade Organization in Geneva, shows the channels through which the current recession impacts all countries in the world and outlines the severe problems this creates for migrants, who are often the weakest link in the employment chain.

While he sees the world economy beginning to "turn the corner," a prediction of what will happen in 2010 remains difficult, he says. Too many are the challenges for developing and developed countries alike, ranging from fiscal deficits and pressure on social safety nets to higher food prices and rising unemployment - all of which are factors that will hit poor households that receive remittances especially hard.